Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza

A friend and I took in the Spring Garden Show at South Coast Plaza in Orange County last week.  The show, held in an up-scale shopping mall, is less about plants and gardens and more about home furnishings but it pulls in a lot of vendors with garden-oriented goods and some plants too so it's worth a visit.

My friend and I cruised through the displays on the first floor.  My favorite was the floral centerpiece created by Fiesta Floats.

Like the floats in the Pasadena Rose Parade, I think everything was meant to be created using natural materials.  Huge tulips, Iris, daffodils and other flowers soared 25 feet high.  Giant ladybugs and frogs occupied the lower level and over-sized bees and hummingbirds sipped nectar from the flowers overhead.

The other displays were heavy on furnishings and light on plants, although I noted an effort to include native and California-friendly plants in most of the displays.  Each featured a plant list; however, the plants in the exhibits didn't always match the lists, possibly because the displays' creators had difficulty locating their target plants when it came time to put their exhibits together.  I tried to find some garden-related idea of interest in each display but wasn't always successful.

Labeled "Chic Retreat," the furniture in this one didn't look appropriate to an outdoor setting to me but I liked the round pots

This one was called "Everlasting Reflections."  I liked the modern arbor and the pretty Japanese maples.

Entitled "Garden of Zen," the only thing I liked here was the artsy stone path

This one, called "Holistic Wellspring," was meant to combine an herbal apothecary with a meditation space (largely outside of view to the right).  I liked the pretty work space even if some of the furnishings looked as though they were meant only for indoor use.

"Living Pleasures" was created as an outdoor dining space, complete with a water feature created using wine bottles.  I took the laser-cut space dividers as metal at first but they were made of wood.

This is "Mise En Place," another outdoor dining and lounging area.  That vertical wall, featuring herbs of various kinds, was well done.  

Called "Up on the Roof," this one had me wondering how common roof-top or large balcony gardens are in Southern California.  Still, I liked the teak chairs shown in the foreground of this photo.

"Wings of Spring" featured a cute greenhouse constructed of old windows.  There was decorative bird cage containing a fairy garden scene, also constructed around a greenhouse.

Vendors with garden-oriented goods for sale occupied the top two levels of the mall.  I got tired of trying to frame photos around the ever-increasing mass of people in the mall and the generally poor lighting so I took relatively few pictures.  Shopping was my main preoccupation there anyway.

There were plants -  including bulbs, succulents, and orchids - for sale, as well as pottery, garden tools and the like

There was also a bonsai display.  While my friend discussed the oak tree specimen (center photo) with a representative, I talked to another about the "bonsai" succulent display (right).  I was told that the latter had been created as a tongue-in-cheek entry.  As I recall, it was at least 2 years old.

Other than a Protea bouquet, I bought no plants this year, which is unusual for me.  However, I didn't go home empty-handed.

Left is what was sold as a "starpod."  All I could find out was that it's a dried seed pod from South Africa.  In the middle is my latest Muradian pot purchase.  The poor photo on the right shows a container constructed of a coconut shell and vines.

While it isn't anything like garden shows presented elsewhere, it was a fun outing and I'll probably go again next year.  Apparently, 2019 will mark South Coast Plaza's 30th annual Spring Garden Show.  Maybe they'll pull out the stops.

For another review of this year's show, visit Hoover Boo at Piece of Eden.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party